Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet will retail at $249, with other features including a free cloud service, nine hours of video battery life and access to the Nook newsstand and comics. Amazon's WiFi-enabled Kindle Fire retails for $199, while iPads have a starting price of $499.

Weighing less than a pound, the Nook Tablet is physically similar to the company's Nook Color, and includes 16GB of storage and the capability to expand memory using a microSD card. It offers up to 11.5 hours of reading, uses the Android operating system, has Wi-Fi capability and a built-in microphone to read and record stories. Pre-loaded apps include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora and Sudoku.

Barnes & Noble also announced it cut the price of its Nook Color to $199 from $249 and slashed the Nook SimpleTouch's price to $99 from $139.

The Nook goes on sale Nov. 17. If you're curious about how it stacks up to its competitors, The Vergehas a handy comparison table with all the specs you could imagine.

Reviewers have yet to get their hands on the Nook Tablet, so as Engadget says, it's still too early to tell whether the device is worth the extra $50.